Description

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Text throughout the field of banknote: "Cuba - free territory of America, the homeland or death".

Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales (June 14, 1845 - December 7, 1896) was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence. Fellow Cubans gave Maceo the sobriquet of the "Bronze Titan" (El Titan de Bronce), which was a reference to his skin color, stature and status. Spaniards referred to Maceo as the "Greater Lion" (El Leon mayor). Maceo was one of the most noteworthy guerrilla leaders in XIX century Latin America, comparable to José Antonio Páez of Venezuela in military acumen.

Denominations are in lower left and top right corners, also centered.

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"The Baragua Protest" in Mangos de Baragua.

Antonio Maceo was one of the officers who opposed the signing of the Pact of Zanjón, which ended the Ten Years War. He and other mambises (independence soldiers) met with General Martínez-Campos on March 15, 1878, to discuss the peace terms, but Maceo argued that no peace could be achieved if none of the objectives of the war had been accomplished, chief among these aims was the abolition of slavery in Cuba and Cuban independence. The only immediate benefit was amnesty for those involved in the conflict and liberty for the black soldiers who had fought in the "Liberator Army". Maceo did not recognize the treaty as valid and did not adhere to the proposed amnesty. This meeting, known as the Protest of Baraguá ("Protesta de Baraguá"), began when a messenger was sent to Maceo from another Cuban high officer, who proposed an ambush against the Spanish general. Maceo rejected the plan, informing the would-be conspirator via letter: “I don’t want victory, if it goes accompanied with dishonor”.

"Thus was manifested the intransigent spirit of the Cuban people which did not want peace without independence, a spirit which has continued to be manifested", referring to this event, Marti said, “I have now before me the Baragua Protest, which is one of the most glorious pages of our history”.

Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón, December 14, 1831 - September 23, 1900), was a Spanish officer, who rose against the First Spanish Republic in a military revolution in 1874 and restored Spain's Bourbon dynasty. Later he became Captain-General of Cuba. As soldier and politician, he took part in the wars in Africa, Mexico, Cuba and the last Carlist war.